I truly love Henrik Hansson’s voice and musical talent. Of his excellent 2018 home studio cover videos, his James Ingram tribute really stuck out to me, to the extent that I convinced my good friend, Nashville session drummer John Hammond, to join me in a guerilla-style hijack of Henrik’s track. We “borrowed” the audio from ...
New to west coast music? Need a crash course? I’ve compiled a playlist with some of the most iconic tracks in the genre. In about five hours, you’ll get a pretty complete picture of west coast music – at least what’s available on the streaming services. I’m embedding the Tidal playlist here, and I strongly ...
In a recent conversation, Bill Champlin offered his take on what constitutes “west coast music” and what the genre represents. Having been a part of several of the early milestone releases in the late seventies, he should know a thing or two about the subject – though he admits that at the time, “we were ...
Five years ago I got the chance to sit down for a couple cups of coffee and a handful of trips down memory lane with Steve Lukather of Toto and two of my closest friends. It’s time to share some of that conversation. Lukather looked back on his very first days as a session player, ...
One of the rarest and most sought-after vinyl records to come out of early 1980s Los Angeles is Tom Jans’ “The Champion”. Up until its recent CD release on Japanese label Pony Canyon, the only way to get to hear this mellow soft rock gem was by way of bootleg CDs – or if ...
I finally found the time and money to get to LA, and what a great place it is. I’ve been able to secure interview appointments with some great people, and you should be able to see the results on the site shortly. Stay tuned.
When I first came in contact with the music I’m now writing about, I approached it as a listener. I appreciated the way the music made me feel. It didn’t take long to get my head involved, and the musician in me started analyzing and discovering secrets in the intricate arrangements on an intellectual level. ...
This is part two of the transcript of my talk with songsmith and recording artist Alan O’Day. You can find part one here. In this final part, O’Day talks about his musical influences, and we discuss the slickness of the westcoast sound. How do you feel about your musical output from back then? You know, ...
I recently had the great pleasure of talking to songwriter Alan O’Day about the music he made in LA in the Seventies. Having written number one hits such as his own “Undercover Angel” and Helen Reddy’s “Angie Baby,” O’Day continues to write and perform his own material. He still resides in his native Los Angeles, ...
I’m listing 10 must-own albums in an attempt to define the musical genre of the music scene this book project is all about. Read part 1 of this article here. The final five albums you need to track down and listen to ASAP are as follows: Christopher Cross: Christopher Cross (1979) Christopher Cross’ rapid slide ...
